A few weeks ago I got a phone call.  It was from ol' Vern, the head of the human resources department at New Horizons, who had asked me at the beginning of the fall semester if I thought I could teach math.

He came to me asking if I wanted to come back to work for the school.  He was weeping with tears of repentance, pleading.  He was on his knees begging me-- he conveyed this to me over the telephone.

Then he asked if I could start at 6:30 the next morning, which was absolutely cruel.  Nonetheless, I accepted and let my Christmas vacation come to a close, and now I'm supervising in the guys' house-- which is the job I was applying for last fall when they asked me to teach math.  I've got to say that the work is pretty overwhelming, but when I'm not exhausted, I enjoy it pretty well.

I do dinner devotions a couple days a week for the house.  My second day at it, I was talking about legalism and a less uptight way of life that we sometimes call liberty.  But lets be honest-- if we try to be righteous before God, we are going to have a miserable and laborious life.  We are going to bear a heavy load.  But neither legalism nor our best efforts to get caught up in legalism are going to avail us anything (Gal. 5:5), so I showed them a better way:  rest in Christ.  Our wisdom and our spiritual energies aren't going to lift us up into the glory of God, and our critical thinking skills won't get us close, so I showed them a better way:  the true wisdom that only comes by the Spirit of God.  I must say I got on a roll, and when I was done, I didn't feel like it was appropriate to just say, "okay, you're dismissed for chores," so I just sat there for a little while and didn't say anything.

Then the one guy who most obviously needed to hear a message like that told me "thank you," and then another kid started clapping, and pretty soon the whole table was applauding.  Not knowing any better, they started asking me why I wasn't a preacher, and one of them let me know that their church is looking for a youth pastor.

When I was out of work and in debt, I prayed that I'd be able to get a job soon, and it would be really nice if I didn't have to apply for it, because I really dislike job applications.  I've prayed that a couple of times, and both times it's ended with a job falling neatly into my lap. 

I've got a couple little flocks to feed.  One of them is full of gray-haired men and women and one of them is full of young thieves and druggies and rapists.  The lion will lie down with the lamb.  All the earth groans in wait of the redemption.  In the meantime, I am God's.  I will thank Him for His work, and for His rest.

A few recent reads:

Letters to Malcolm:  Chiefly on Prayer (C. S. Lewis)
Whatever Happened to Worship (A. W. Tozer)
The Weight of Glory (C. S. Lewis)
Peace Child (Don Robinson.  He was a missionary to a tribe in New Guinea that championed treachery and cannibalism)

And right now I'm reading The Heavenly Man, by Brother Yun and some other fella.  He was a house church leader in China.  This is pretty much the most astonishing book ever written.  This guy's entire life sounds like it comes directly out of the book of Acts.  If you love God, and if you love to worship Him in the beauty of holiness, then you'll probably just weep the whole time you read it, because His work in Brother Yun is beautiful.

I'm still mostly unemployed, though New Horizons keeps tempting me with job offers that don't wind up going anywhere.

But being unemployed ain't so bad.  David made a brick charcoal furnace, so he and I have been making charcoal, chopping wood, and baking a lot of bread in that little brick oven.  I am getting some very good reading in, and I'm trying to piece together the most important thing I have ever written, but that's kind of difficult.

Some day soon I hope to post a word or two about why life is so good, but the real reason for this update is a little more commercial than that. 

Most of you have probably already gotten wind of this, but not all.  For example, I don't have Caitlin Williamson's email address, so someone like her must get her information from this blog. 

But this coming Saturday, February 21, my family and friends are going to be putting on a Sacred Harp singing school at Taylor.  We'll be in the music building room 151, and we'll go from 1:00-3:00. 

Actually, we'll probably sing a little longer than that, because we'll have guests coming from places like Lousville and Dayton-- including John Bayer.  And when John Bayer comes to town, you can't just learn a few things about reading music and then sing a few songs and go home.  You've gotta stick around a while to really get the good out of his visit.

But this will be a pretty great time.  Your music reading skills will improve dramatically, you'll get to learn a thing or two about the American hymnic tradition.  Also, you'll get to sing with John Bayer.

So try to show up:  Saturday. February 21.  1:00-3:00.

It'll be rippin.